Leandro Aragoncillo

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Leandro Aragoncillo (born 1959) is a naturalized Filipino-American^[1] former FBI intelligence analyst and retired Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who was charged with espionage and leaking classified information to the regime of a former Filipino president. The FBI labeled him the first known case of espionage in history from within the White House, where he was assigned for 31 months from 1999 to 2001, first under Vice President Al Gore and then under Vice President Dick Cheney.

Aragoncillo was hired to work for the FBI at the Army's Ft. Monmouth base in New Jersey in July 2004 and began sending classified information and documents in January 2005, according to the federal complaint.

On October 5, 2005, Aragoncillo was indicted and arrested for espionage in New Jersey. Federal agents accuse him of stealing classified information, including information about the current President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and passing it to opposition leaders in that country. The FBI referred to his arrest as representing the first known case of espionage from within the White House. Michael Ray Aquino, a former deputy director of the Philippines National Police who lived in New York City, was arrested and charged as well. Aragoncillo was accused of passing some of the documents to Aquino.

According to reports gathered from Filipino intelligence professionals, indications were also pointing to Aragoncillo's supposed link with the French intelligence service, Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure. Frequent visits of Aragoncillo to Manila were allegedly interspersed with clandestine meetings with identified French operatives and several "illegals" (i.e. unregistered agents) around 2002 to 2004.

Aquino, having pled guilty to unlawfully possessing secret US government documents, faces a jail sentence of between 70 and 87 months plus a $250,000 fine.

Under his plea agreement, Aragoncillo faced up to 20 years in prison.^[1] On July 18, 2007, a federal court in New Jersey sentenced Aragoncillo to ten years in prison.^[1]^[2]